OTROS DESTACABLES

Nothing 12

PowerPoint 9

Lecture 5

Spread over Two Days 4

Other – Two or Fewer 15

Incident Command System for Field-Level Transportation Supervisors and Personnel

Course Description

Table 18. ICS Field Personnel Course Elements

Segment Length Method

Didactic Overview 1 hour Lecture and PowerPoint

Break 0.25 hours

ICS Field Implementation 1.5 hour Workshop, sandbox simulation, role discussions

Break 0.25 hours

Didactic Overview of Equipment 0.25 hours Lecture and PowerPoint

Supporting Equipment, Display 0.75 hours Guided tour of supporting equipment

The Incident Command System for Field-Level Transportation Supervisors and Personnel course was developed by a team from the NTSSC with funding from the NCHRP, Project NCHRP 20-59 (30). It was designed for a national audience of State transportation agency field staff members who, under NIMS, will be working under ICS in a multi-jurisdiction, multi- profession emergency response. Using the concepts of andragogy, the course was designed to build on ICS-100 and ICS-200 courses by adding practical application elements.79

The course uses methods described by the Learning Pyramid with the goal of enhancing retention of the material. Students see and hear the course introduction, which is enhanced with a PowerPoint presentation using transportation agency-specific photos. A student handbook that includes the PPT slides and a glossary of terms supports the lecture. This means that the students see, hear, and read the instruction. This should result in 30 percent retention of the material. The handbook includes handout materials that extend elements of the instruction, such as Disaster Service Worker, home and personal preparedness, and the Caltrans/CHP JOPS.

The lecture was designed to highlight the aspects of ICS that Caltrans personnel will use, such as check-in and checkout for safety, and the use of Mission Tasking numbers when providing services off the State highway system. The PPT slides show actual events and examples of forms and materials that Caltrans personnel would use.

After a break, the course becomes an interactive discussion/demonstration/ “doing” session, which should lead to a 75-percent retention rate. The interactive portion uses a supervisor’s folder and a set of ICS Quick Start Cards customized for transportation as part of the NCHRP project. The cards are laminated to be weatherproof, are in different colors for quick identification, and are on a ring to allow them to be distributed and then reassembled. The supervisor’s folder is a cardboard packing box that has been cut and folded into a holder for a set of management tools. Attached to the cardboard is the set of basic ICS forms in clear zip-locked shipping pouches. There are an ICS Field Operations Guide, pens, and pads of paper in the folder along with the cards.80 _{The package was}

designed to fit behind the front seat of a typical transportation agency supervisor’s truck for easy access.

The instructor has set up in advance a series of mock traffic accidents on the students’ tables using engineer’s tape, small cars, emergency vehicles and road signs. They are used to envision the scene of an event, and students may move the vehicles and signs during the discussion to simulate the progress of the event resolution. This is known as the “sandbox” method of training and practice, borrowed from the military.

After the break, the instructor asks about 10 students to take the card sets that have been placed on the tables and read the first card in turn. The cards instruct them how to take the role of initial Incident Commander (IC) when an emergency occurs. They distribute the different colored cards to individuals: the Safety Officer, the Logistics Section Chief and the Planning/Intelligence Section Chief, making the point that with the card, anyone can fill those roles to establish ICS. By the time that the four cards have been distributed by the 10 students, most of the class members have an ICS role. Appendix 1 contains photos of the teaching materials.

The instructor guides the discussion about what each role would do at that point in the management of the emergency. Everyone is invited to be part of the discussion as the role players read their cards and say exactly what they would do to resolve the event at that point. Issues like available resources, the arrival of law enforcement, the arrival of a fire department, and the functions of other probable players are integrated into the discussion of transportation agency personnel’s roles.

ICS elements discussed and demonstrated during the second part of the class include starting an ICS event, joining an ICS in various roles (Operations Section Chief, technical specialist, field resource) and assuming or passing the command to another entity. Examples of real events are given to show how these roles work. The PPT continues during the interactive portion to provide additional visual clues and includes field crews at actual events and photos of disasters. Information from the Federal Highway Administration’s

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Section 61, page 726, is included

to show the universality of ICS applications under NIMS, and the designations for major, intermediate and minor traffic events used nationally. This provides context for students to consider how important this information is and how they might be using it. Photos of the materials are found in Appendix 1.

There are also guides in the student handbook that (it is hoped) will lead to action, such as building a professional getaway kit and a personal support kit for the work vehicle, which should lead to a 75-percent information retention rate if the students act on them after class. There are also two scenarios that students can use as a refresher exercise on their own or with co-workers. It is hoped that this leads to a teach-back environment, which should generate ninety percent retention of the material.

The third segment of the Caltrans class is a visit to a display of Caltrans communications assets. After a break, the students watch a brief PPT presentation that describes the communications assets and field support materials that are available in each district and as statewide assets. They then have a guided tour of the assets. Similar displays of field support equipment could be added to the course by any State transportation agency.

Course Evolution

At the end of each class, evaluation forms were used to collect student feedback. The instructors read each response and evaluated each for inclusion in elements of the course. The main change was to provide two breaks in the class instead of the single break at the two-hour point that was programmed in the NCHRP course. Since the students were field personnel, they were unused to sitting still indoors for hours at a time. Providing the extra break seemed to enhance attention.

The MUTCD information was added at the midpoint of the trainings as a result of knowledge gained during a research trip. Some students in the early classes expressed the belief that ICS was not for transportation field personnel, so seeing it specified in a FHWA publication added weight to the value of ICS training. It also showed that highway events could be viewed in three categories, and that longer events are not “business as usual,” which was an early criticism of the ICS training.

Course Evaluation

At each delivery, the students were given a course evaluation with five questions and one two-part question. Figure 10 shows the form. Three questions requested a numerical response, as shown in Figure 11. The responses to the qualitative questions are in Tables 20-23. This course was not delivered at the Caltrans Headquarters because it is only for field personnel.

Listed below are the numbers of surveys that were returned to the instructors. Most students answered only some of the questions, and several students provided more than one answer to each of the qualitative questions, so the answer totals do not match the number of surveys collected. Since not all students answered the surveys, the numbers do not reflect a full count of attendance, which was collected by the Caltrans OES staff through sign-in sheets. All district information is reported in the order that the classes were offered, because the courses evolved at each iteration through student feedback.

Table 19. ICS Responses Received

District (By Date) Number of Surveys Returned

District 3 13 District 10 9 District 7 25 District 5 32 District 4 29 District 1 25 District 2 17 District 8 38 District 12 17 District 11 32 District 9 15 District 6 30 Southern Make-Up 12 Northern Make-Up 6 Grand Total 300

ICS for Transportation Field Personnel Training Date

Evaluation

1= Completely disagree 5= Completely agree

Please give a number to questions 1, 2 & 5

1. The ICS seminar was useful for me in my Caltrans role: ____

2. The most useful thing I learned at today’s ICS seminar was:

3. The sandbox exercise was useful for me in my Caltrans role: _____

4. The most useful information in the sandbox exercise was:

5. Today’s ICS seminar and exercise provided adequate information for me to work

effectively in an ICS event. ____

6. Important thing (s) that should be added for future training:

7. What should be eliminated from future training?

Use the back side for extra space for any question, or for additional comments

Question 1: The ICS seminar was useful for me in my

Caltrans role

Question 3: The sandbox exercise was useful for me

in my Caltrans role

Question 7: Today's ICS seminar and exercise

provided adequate information for me to work

effectively in an ICS event

5(Highest) 165 110 132 4 69 70 99 3 47 57 41 2 12 25 13 1 (Lowest) 7 11 5 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180